Reach For The Sky With Extra Oomph!
Sky Business and activities provider Oomph! announce innovative new partnership to help improve the quality of life of care home residents across the UK care sector
January 2015 sees the launch of an exciting new partnership between Oomph!, the award-winning social enterprise and the UK’s largest provider of fun, inclusive and effective exercise and activities programmes for older people, and Sky Business, the business-to-business division of Sky, the UK and Ireland’s leading entertainment and communications company.
The partnership builds upon both organisations’ commitment to transforming activities and exercise in care home settings through the use of the latest technology and innovative approaches. Oomph! (which stands for Our Organisation Makes People Happy) trains and supports staff in care settings to deliver engaging group exercise programmes designed to significantly improve the day-to-day health and quality of life of older people. Oomph! instructors are already making tens of thousands of older adults happier and healthier every month with interactive classes including Strictly Fun Dancing and Chair Cheerleading.
Sky’s tailored subscription packages for the sector are transforming the entertainment and activities experience in care homes, with the aim of providing a flexible and interactive television resource for communal areas and in rooms. Activity co-ordinators and planners can use Sky series link as well as pause, rewind and record live TV to turn residents’ favourite programmes into a truly interactive experience and a perfect opportunity to engage with family members and visitors.
Sky is supporting the launch of ‘The Oomph! Energiser’1, Oomph!’s new monthly activity packs that enable care home staff to provide a whole range of fun and regular new activities to really brighten up the day of care home residents and their family and friends. The Oomph! Energiser will also feature themed activities, based on Sky’s TV content, to stimulate residents and get them moving, whatever they are doing or watching.
Under the partnership, new Care Home Subscribers to the Sky Business Lounge package2 will also receive a £500 Oomph! voucher to put towards bringing some more Oomph! into their home every day.
In addition, the winner of Oomph!’s Instructor of the Year competition recieved a free Sky package for 12 months.
Ben Allen, Founder and CEO of Oomph! says;
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Sky on this ground-breaking initiative. Here at Oomph! we have worked with over 800 care homes and have had over 150,000 participants in our classes – with tens of thousands taking part every single month and growing fast. Our Oomph! classes and activities already put a smile on the face and a spring in the step of older adults and the staff that care for them across the UK, from Shetland to the South Coast. The Oomph! Energiser packs will help even more older adults enjoy the quality of life they deserve and support them to realise their full potential.”
James Tweddle, Sales Director at Sky Business says;
“We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with Oomph! to deliver some really exciting new services for the care sector. Innovative activity programmes, combined with the latest technology allowing residents and carers to pause, rewind and record live TV, plus the world of possibility provided by Wi-Fi connectivity, can combine to transform Residents’ engagement experiences, and their health and quality of life.”
Sky’s content includes the latest blockbuster movies, live action from all seven Sky Sports channels and must-see shows across Sky’s range of entertainment channels. The Sky package for care homes also provides Wi-Fi connectivity to the internet, opening up a new realm of possibilities for the elderly generation.